Photo Diary: Shanghai Old Street & To The Bund

Some things I noticed when I was in Shanghai:

• People generally favour shades of reds; I saw so many red coats that I contemplated buying one "just because"! (But I didn't, my wills were strong.) I heard that red is considered a lucky colour for Chinese, and it's interesting to see it seeping into their fashion as well.

• Halal food is so, so easy to find, and pretty ubiquitous! Walk along the famous shopping boulevard that is East Nanjing Road and you'll be able to find at least four halal restaurants.

• The city is overall relatively quite clean, much better than I expected! Unfortunately, too many people spit freely everywhere — mean, everywhere — and being a germophobic, it bothered the crap out of me.

• Shanghai is ULTRA MODERN. I didn't read up on Shanghai much before coming and was pleasantly surprised at how urban the city was, filled with high-rise buildings with gorgeous architectures.

And that brings me to Shanghai Old Street, which isn't really comprised of only one street; it's really like a little town filled with old-school-looking buildings that actually look new, so I suspect they were just made to look traditional. This is where I bought most souvenirs and 'accidentally' learned to bargain with the local people.

Tip: Try walking away when they first tell you how much something costs; usually they'd call you back and offer you a cheaper price. I went to admire a silk robe in one of the little shops and immediately backed away when I found out it was freakin' 2800 yuan, only to have the lady taking hold of my arm (not kidding, she legit manhandled me) and said "How much you want?" to which I replied "900 yuan" because in my mind she would just let leave after that, but I was wrong; I happily walked away with a red silk robe for my mom for 900 yuan. That's like 68% discount, on the spot, guys! 

PS: Don't worry, not all shopkeepers will manhandle you!

Later that night Shah and I walked to The Bund, where people go to admire the architectural buildings I mentioned earlier. Shanghai really has one of the best skylines I've ever seen.

I hope you enjoyed going down the memory lane with me with these photos, thank you for skimming through all of them! XO

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